Along with the price reductions, Prime members will find "double the number of exclusive weekly Prime member deals and deeper discounts," the statement said, noting "customers can expect more than 300 Prime member deals on some of the season’s most popular items."

“Whole Foods Market continues to maintain the high quality standards that we’ve championed for nearly 40 years and, with Amazon, we will lower more prices in the future, building on the positive momentum from previous price investments,” said John Mackey, Whole Foods co-founder and CEO, in a statement Monday.

Amazon acquired the Whole Foods chain for $13.7 billion in August 2017 with a "vision of making Whole Foods Market’s high-quality, natural and organic food affordable for everyone," the companies said at the time.

Prices were cut on the first day on "best-selling grocery staples" including fruit, dairy and meats.

The companies said Monday that "customers have saved hundreds of millions of dollars through lower prices and Prime member deals" and the new "reductions will build on the hundreds of lower prices that have been introduced to customers since the Amazon and Whole Foods Market merger."

In February, The Wall Street Journal reported after reviewing internal company communications that Whole Foods has raised prices on hundreds of products to "cover the rising costs for packaging, ingredients and transportation."

The company has been trying to lure Prime members to Whole Foods with exclusive deals including a loyalty discount of an additional 10% off sales prices. Members with an Amazon Prime Rewards Visa get 5% cash back on Whole Foods purchases.

Starting Wednesday and continuing through the end of April, there's another incentive for for trying Prime. New members can get $10 off a $20 or more purchase in-store when they try Prime free for 30 days at www.amazon.com/WholeFoods.

Prime deals

Here are some examples of exclusive Prime member deals for April that will rotate weekly

A man is removed after heckling Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson's speech at the Convention of the North, in the Magna Centre in Rotherham, norhtern England on Sept. 13, 2019. Boris Johnson will meet EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg officials said, as the British prime minister bids to broker a Brexit compromise ahead of the October 31 deadline. Preparedness in Britain for a no-deal Brexit remains "at a low level", with logjams at Channel ports threatening to impact drug and food supplies, according to government assessments released this week. CHRISTOPHER FURLONG, AFP/Getty Images

A pro-China supporter reacts to the media as a security guard tries to remove him after a small scuffle broke out between pro-democracy and pro-china supporters after a rally in support of China was held at shopping mall in Mong Kok on Sept.13, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Chris McGrath, Getty Images

Pro-democracy protesters form a human chain and wave laser pointers, phones and lanterns in the air on Victoria Peak on Sept. 13, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Protesters have continued demonstrations across Hong Kong, calling for the city's Chief Executive Carrie Lam to immediately meet the rest of their demands, including an independent inquiry into police brutality, the retraction of the word riot to describe the rallies, and genuine universal suffrage, as the territory faces a leadership crisis. Chris McGrath, Getty Images

People shout slogans during an anti-India protest in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sept. 13, 2019. Tensions are high in the region after the Indian government on 05 August pushed a resolution through parliament that removes the special constitutional status granted to the disputed Kashmir region, a decision condemned by Pakistan. Kashmir has been a matter of dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 when both countries became sovereign states ARSHAD ARBAB, EPA-EFE

Worker carry mannequins at the Hofbraeu tent on the Theresienwiese fair ground during preparations for the Oktoberfest 2019 in Munich, Germany, Sept. 13, 2019. The traditional Munich Beer Festival, the world's largest beer festival that annually is visited by people from all over the world, will be held from Sept. 21-to Oct. 6. PHILIPP GUELLAND, EPA-EFE

A women cries out during a demonstration by thousands of mostly women against the countries extraordinarily high rate of gender violence against women at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa, Sept. 13, 2019. KIM LUDBROOK, EPA-EFE